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19.1.18

Author Interview: Cara Hunter

I am thrilled to welcome debut author, Cara Hunter, to Bookaholic Confessions today as she reveals all about her new novel, Close to Home. This novel has received some outstanding praise already and I was delighted to be given the opportunity to chat writing, research and - of course - DI Adam Fawley with Cara...

Hello Cara…A massive
bookish welcome to Bookaholic Confessions! Thank you so much for taking the
time to appear on my blog. Would you like to start by introducing yourself?

I live in Oxford , not far from where Close to Home is set, so it’s ‘close to home’ in every sense. I
studied English at university, and this is my first crime novel. It’s a whole new world for me, and I’ve been
overwhelmed and thrilled by the response the book has had so far.

I am SO excited about
reading Close to Home (released December 2017 with Penguin), it sounds
incredible! What was your inspiration behind the story?

I hope it lives up to your expectations! As for the
inspiration, I think everyone can relate to the idea of losing someone. The
pain of not knowing what happened, and the guilt of feeling that perhaps you
were somehow to blame. And all those feelings and fears are intensified ten
times over when it’s a parent losing a child. It’s no surprise that so many
books and dramas have taken this as a theme, either in terms of solving the
crime, or exploring the emotional consequences, as Ian McEwan did so movingly
in The Child in Time.

Is your lead
character DI Adam Fawley entirely fictional or is he based on anyone in real
life?

He’s definitely not based on one single person. But every writer draws on their own
experience to some extent when they develop a character. You take a feature
here, a smile there, a sense of humour somewhere else, and it all comes together
in someone new. And it’s astonishing how ‘real’ that person becomes, especially
if you write about that character in more than one book, as I have with Adam
Fawley.

How did you go about doing any relevant
research for Close to Home?

I started with desk research. There’s so much you can do
online now, whether it’s legal procedure or the grisly details of forensic
pathology. That was enough to get me started on the story, and I followed that
up by consulting some real experts in specific fields. My ‘pro team’ now
includes a Detective Inspector, a CSI, a barrister, and a forensic
psychiatrist. They help me ensure the book is as accurate and up to date as I
can make it, but they’ve also taught me a huge amount along the way too. I’m
very lucky to have such a superb team.

Will we be seeing more
of DI Fawley in the near future?

Oh yes! I’ve written
book two (In the Dark, out in July)
and I’ve done a first cut of book three. And I hope there will be more after
that.

Have you always
wanted to be an author?

At some level, definitely. I think everyone who studies
literature wants to write themselves. But it only became a burning ambition
quite a lot later.

What’s the best thing
about writing thrillers?

The readers! Seriously – I have the most immense admiration
for how well informed crime devotees are. You can’t get away with being sloppy
with an audience as sophisticated as that. Which makes it even more special
that so many of them have responded so enthusiastically to Close to Home.

And finally can you
tell us a bit about what you’re up to at the moment…?